New South Wales Consolidated Acts

LEGAL PROFESSION ACT 2004 - SECT 53

53 Statutory condition regarding practice as solicitor

(1) It is a statutory condition of a local practising certificate for a solicitor that the holder must engage in supervised legal practice only, until the holder has completed:

(a) if the holder completed practical legal training principally under the supervision of an Australian legal practitioner, whether involving articles of clerkship or otherwise, to qualify for admission to the legal profession in this or another jurisdiction-a period or periods equivalent to 18 months’ supervised legal practice, worked out under relevant regulations, after the day the holder’s first practising certificate was granted, or

(b) if the holder completed other practical legal training to qualify for admission to the legal profession in this or another jurisdiction-a period or periods equivalent to 2 years’ supervised legal practice, worked out under relevant regulations, after the day the holder’s first practising certificate was granted.

(2) Subsection (1) has effect subject to any other conditions that relate to engaging in supervised legal practice as a solicitor after a period or periods referred to in that subsection.

(3) A Council may exempt a person or class of persons from the requirement for supervised legal practice under subsection (1) or may reduce a period referred to in that subsection for a person or class of persons, if satisfied that the person or persons do not need to be supervised or need to be supervised only for a shorter period, having regard to:

(a) the length and nature of any legal practice previously engaged in by the person or persons, and

(b) the length and nature of any legal practice engaged in by the supervisors (if any) who previously supervised the legal practice engaged in by the person or persons.

(4) An exemption under subsection (3) may be given unconditionally or subject to such conditions as the Council thinks appropriate.